WAHS business students recognized with top honors

WALLENPAUPACK - Logan Curnal, Peter Gilroy and Isaac Syre from Wallenpaupack Area High School received national recognition at the FBLA Awards of Excellence on July 2.

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News Eagle - Hawley, PA

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Posted Jul. 21, 2014 at 3:28 PM

Posted Jul. 21, 2014 at 3:28 PM

WALLENPAUPACK - Logan Curnal, Peter Gilroy and Isaac Syre from Wallenpaupack Area High School received national recognition at the FBLA Awards of Excellence on July 2.

Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL), the largest and oldest student business organization, held its National Leadership Conference in Nashville on June 29–July 2.

Curnal, Gilroy, and Syre competed in the team event of Business Financial Plan and brought home seventh place. The students will soon be entering their senior year.

This is the first time the FBLA at Wallenpaupack qualified for the national level.

Melissa Monte, Co-Adviser of FBLA at WAHS, noted the phenomenal growth of their FBLA club. In its 1st year, the club had 11 members, 2nd year 23, 3rd year 44 and this past school year, its 4th year, there were 123 members. The WAHS FBLA Chapter is currently the 12 largest club in Pennsylvania.

••• Created fictitous company

The event consisted of writing and submitting a report about a fictitious company that the students were planning to open called Northeast Personal Creations. The company would sell personalized clothing and accessories in bulk and individually. The student team (1 of 42 from around the nation) gave their presentation on Monday, June 30th to two judges.

Based on their performance, they placed in the top 15 and moved into the final round. They presented in the finals on Tuesday, July 1st to three judges and an audience of approximately 60 spectators.

More than 10,000 of America’s best and brightest youth showcased their talents as future business leaders and vied for the opportunity to win over $165,000 in cash awards.

Participants from across the United States and two countries were in attendance for this conference to sharpen their core business skills, expand their networks, and participate in more than 60 business and business-related competitive events.

••• Never dreamed of this

“The entire NLC experience could not have been better," saidMonte. "Traveling with PA FBLA, to Tennessee, was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The tours in Memphis and Nashville were so well planned, we really got to see everything. The National Leadership Conference, from beginning to end, was phenomenal.

"The energy of Opening Session was electric—to be in a room with over 10,000 FBLA members and advisers, from around the country, cannot really be described, it has to be experienced. WAHS FBLA was thrilled to make it to NLC for the first time in the club’s history. We never dreamed we’d make it into the Top Ten, with an amazing finish of Seventh."

Page 2 of 2 - She continued, "We are so fortunate to be a part of the Wallenpaupack Area School District, who fully supports endeavors like this, and allows students to take part in such life-changing events.”

••• More about FBLA

The award was part of a comprehensive national competitive events program sponsored by FBLA-PBL that recognizes and rewards excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas. For many students, the competitive events are the capstone activity of their academic careers. In addition to the competitions, students immersed themselves in educational workshops, visited an information-packed exhibit hall, and attended motivational keynotes on a broad range of business topics.

FBLA-PBL, Inc.is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education association with a quarter million members and advisers in over 6,500 active middle school, high school, and college chapters worldwide. Its mission is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs. The association is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC.